William Deverell is Professor of History at the University of Southern California and Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of numerous publications including A Companion to the American West (Blackwell, 2004), Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past (2004), and (edited with Greg Hise) Land of Sunshine: The Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles (2005). David Igler is Associate Professor of History at University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Industrial Cowboys: Miller & Lux and the Transformation of the Far West, 1850-1920 (2001) and co-editor (with Clark Davis) of The Human Tradition in California (2002). He has published articles in the numerous history journals, including the American Historical Review, the Pacific Historical Review, Environmental History, and the Journal of Urban History.

“This volume of original essays by leading scholars is an innovative, thorough introduction to the history and culture of California.”  (Native American Encyclopedia, 8 January 2014)"This is a useful book. For somebody whose training is in history, like me, there is enough substance in each chapter to make it worthwhile.... Like all Blackwell Companions, this volume is pleasant to use and handle." (Reference Reviews, 2009)

• List of Figures viiiNotes on Contributors ixIntroduction xiiiPart I Introductory Essays 11. Beyond Dreams and Disappointments: Defining California through Culture 3James Quay2. Rereading, Misreading, and Redeeming the Golden State: Defining California through History 22D. J. Waldie3. I Thought California Would Be Different: Defining California through Visual Culture 40Catherine Gudis4. At the Crossroads: Defi ning California through the Global Economy 75Richard A. WalkerPart II Early California 975. Junípero Serra across the Generations 99Steven W. Hackel6. Alta California, the Pacifi c, and International Commerce before the Gold Rush 116David Igler7. Licit and Illicit Unions: Engendering Mexican Society 127Rosamaría Toruño Tanghetti8. Race and Immigration in the Nineteenth Century 145Omar Valerio-JiménezPart III Conquest and Statehood 1599. The 1850s 161William Deverell10. Nature and Conquest: After the Deluge of ’49 175Douglas Cazaux Sackman11. Native Californians in the Nineteenth Century 192William Bauer, Jr.12. Transformations in Late Nineteenth-century Rural California 215David Vaught13. Transnational Commercial Orbits 230Robert Chao Romero14. Reconsidering Conservation 246Benjamin Heber Johnson15. Religion in the Early Twentieth Century 262Darren Dochuk16. Immigration, Race, and the Progressives 278Lon Kurashige17. New Deal, No Deal: The 1930s 292Rick WartzmanPart IV Modern California 30918. World War II 311Arthur Verge19. Between Liberation and Oppression: Gay Politics and Identity 322Daniel Hurewitz20. Making Multiculturalism: Immigration, Race, and the Twentieth Century 339Kevin Allen Leonard21. The Long 1950s 358Shana Bernstein22. Apportionment Politics, 1920–70 375Douglas Smith23. Under the Warm California Sun: Youth Culture in the Postwar Decades 391Kirse Granat May24. At the Center of Indian Country 405Nicolas G. Rosenthal25. Sexual Revolutions and Sexual Politics 416Josh Sides26. A Generation of Leaders, but Not in the Fields: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez 428Miriam Pawel27. Hollywood Changes its Script 443John HornPart V California Prospects in the Twenty-first Century 45328. Immigration and Race in the Twenty-first Century 455Bill Ong Hing29. Political Prospects in the Twenty-first Century 472Raphael J. Sonenshein30. Environmental Prospects in the Twenty-first Century 483Jon ChristensenIndex 499